Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 135 We hate privileges simply because they are not in our hands

After the list of soldiers was finalized, Liu Bian's tense expression finally relaxed a little. He breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand and gently stroked his chin. His expression was gentle but not without dignity. He said, "You all have worked hard today. I have asked the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Please enjoy it before leaving the palace."

Lu Zhi stroked his beard gently. Unlike others, he had long been accustomed to the prince's meals. He had even eaten with the prince countless times, and the same was true for the prince's ministers.

But the other court officials were unaware of this and only thought that the prince was kind and benevolent.

After all, it is a matter of loyalty to the emperor and it is normal to be summoned to the palace late at night to discuss military emergencies. However, the fact that the prince thought about breakfast shows his generosity and care for his ministers.

Seeing the court officials expressing their gratitude one after another, Liu Bian raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile. Then he turned and walked towards Yong'an Palace, preparing to go back to catch up on his sleep.

However, lying on the couch, Liu Bian tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. His eyes were fixed on the curtains above the bed, and his hands were unconsciously clenching the corners of the quilt. He always felt empty in his heart.

Perhaps it was the first time that all five of the most powerful schools of the Northern Army under his command were sent out, and even the left and right cavalry of the Yulin Army were also on the expedition. This made him inexplicably uneasy, as if he had lost an important support.

But on second thought, there were still 3,000 guards from the Prince's Mansion, 3,000 Tiger Guards, 537 guards from the South Palace, 470 guards from the North Palace, 799 guards from the left and right capitals, and 639 guards from the seven palace gates.

There were 8,500 soldiers guarding the palace alone, plus 720 soldiers under the Praefectus Urbi, 3,000 soldiers from the city gates, and 3,000 soldiers from the counties and states under the jurisdiction of the Yin of Henan. There were still more than 15,000 people loyal to him in Luoyang City.

However, his Prince's Mansion was almost emptied of its officials. Apart from Dian Wei and Xu Chu, only six people remained in the Prince's Mansion: Tian Feng, the Prince's Household Manager; Liu Yi, the Prince's Warehouse Manager; Zhong Yan, the Prince's Food Officer and Zhong Yao's brother; Chen Gong, the Prince's Shepherd; Dong Huang, the Prince's Stable Manager; and Wang Lang, the Prince's Gate Doctor.

If it only lasts for ten days or half a month, these six people may be able to keep the Prince's Mansion running with some hard work, but it will definitely be unsustainable for a long time.

Once he lifted the quilt, he really had no desire to sleep.

After Liu Bian changed into his regular clothes with the help of a palace maid, he walked to the side hall and said to Chen Gong, who was on duty, "Gongtai, go to the Ministry of Personnel and ask for a copy of this spring's list of filial and honest officials."

Now, most of the officials in the Crown Prince's Mansion have gathered in the Left General's Mansion and the Right General's Mansion to discuss military affairs. The Crown Prince's Chief Guard Officer Ju Su and the Crown Prince's concubine Hua Xin have also been in the General's Mansion these days, assisting General Zhu Miao in dealing with the upcoming rebellion in Taishan County.

That is to say, at present, among the prince's concubines, concubines, and servants who are in charge of policy and questioning, only Chen Gong, the prince's servant, is left.

If it were an ordinary person, he would inevitably feel uncomfortable or stressed. However, Chen Gong was not an ordinary person. Instead, he quite enjoyed serving the prince alone, and his face showed an unconcealable excitement.

Being in charge of policy making and answering questions at the emperor's side—this is what many people dream of!
The rest of the people may be granted titles of nobility and appointed as generals after going out, but even if they are granted titles of nobility and appointed as generals, they cannot compare to the respect given by the crown prince!
"only!"

Chen Gong bowed and saluted, then trotted briskly towards the Secretariat. Soon he brought two eunuchs with him to bring the list of filial and honest officials for this spring.

There is no specific requirement for the time of selecting filial and honest officials each year. The Central Plains counties select one person for every 200,000 people, and the border counties select one person for every 100,000 people. The prefect can recommend filial and honest officials at any time according to the quota of each county.

After the recommendation, the memorial will be sent to the Secretariat, reviewed by the Three Dukes and the Secretariat, and finally evaluated by the Emperor. The evaluation time is approximately at the end of each quarter, and a unified evaluation of the filial and honest people of that quarter will be conducted once.

However, these assessments gradually became formalities, and even the emperor's level... Hey, the three dukes and nine ministers can be sold openly, so what is a mere filial and honest person?
But this situation improved as Liu Bian came to power. Didn’t you scholars openly criticize the selling of official positions and titles?
What? Don’t filial and honest officials need to be questioned and evaluated to prevent favoritism and fraud?

I, the crown prince, am conducting an assessment of the filial and honest people on behalf of the emperor. Do you have any objections?

However, he did not go too far. After all, he also understood that the selection of filial and honest officials had long since become a means of transferring benefits through personal connections in the officialdom of the Later Han Dynasty.

Therefore, as long as those who were filial and incorrupt from April to August of last year showed average potential, he would not pursue their cases and would retain their titles. According to the regulations, he would order them to serve as Lang in the Three Departments or as Lang in the Secretariat.

But if one does not even know the classics and only has a so-called "reputation for filial piety", then sorry, the Embroidered Uniform Envoy will personally investigate the authenticity of the "reputation for filial piety".

If he was a filial son and a virtuous grandson, Liu Bian would not punish him, but would return him to his hometown and let him study the classics.

If it is the so-called "selection of filial and honest people, whose father lives separately", haha, he will be charged with the crime of unfilial piety, directly exiled to Jiaozhou, included in the list of those who will not be pardoned regularly, and will never be employed again.

Then investigate whether he has offered bribes. If there is conclusive evidence of bribery, he will be charged with bribery, and the prefect and the county magistrate will be charged with bribery in addition to dereliction of duty.

After a group of local prefects, county magistrates and "filial and honest officials" were punished last year, the prefects and county magistrates in various places have become more sensible this year. At least they dare not recommend those "pigs and dogs" who are ignorant of the classics as filial and honest officials.

"Your Highness, all the people on the list have arrived in Luoyang and are temporarily staying in the inn." Chen Gong handed the list of filial and honest officials to the prince, and while the prince was reading the list, he was sorting the other two boxes of bamboo slips in an orderly manner.

It contained information on the backgrounds, resumes, etc. of the group of filial and honest officials recommended in the spring, which were sent by local county governments and embroidered uniform envoys and had not yet been sorted. Chen Gong sorted them according to the state of origin.

Liu Bian glanced at Chen Gong calmly. It was obvious that Chen Gong was extremely enthusiastic about being able to take sole charge of the prince's policy questions for the next period of time.

After all, even if new people enter the Prince's Mansion later, they will not threaten the status of the old man Chen Gong, even if he only came a month or two earlier than those new people and is just a prince's attendant.

"He Qia of Runan County, styled Yangshi; Xu Jing of Runan County, styled Wenxiu; Zhu Zhi of Danyang County, styled Junli; Guo Yuan of Le'an County, styled Zini; Chen Deng of Xiapi County, styled Yuanlong; Lu Cui of Chenliu County, styled Wenwei; Ruan Yu of Chenliu County, styled Yuanyu; Fu Xun of Beidi County, styled Gongti..."

Liu Bian read through the list of filial and honest officials in spring, and circled a few familiar names on the copy of the list with a red pen, muttering to himself.

Even from a list of filial and honest officials, many clues can be seen.

The quality of filial piety and integrity in the spring of the seventh year of Guanghe was indeed far better than that of the sixth year of Guanghe.

Liu Bian put down the list and leaned against the backrest of the desk, his eyes full of thought.

However, as he, the crown prince, completely consolidated his position in military and political terms, the wind direction gradually changed.

As the crown prince, he appointed the giants of the ancient literature school, Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan, as the crown prince's grand tutor and junior tutor respectively. In other words, the cultural inclination of this Han Dynasty ruler was that of the ancient literature school.

If there is something good on the top, it will be great on the bottom.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the modern literary school is like a candle in the wind. A gust of wind will destroy it and turn it into a wild heresy.

The ancient literature school was at its peak, on the verge of becoming the official school of thought. Almost all the candidates recommended for filial piety and integrity from various places were scholars who had studied the ancient classics.

This situation is understandable. After all, the prefects in various places all understand that the ancient classics will become official learning, and all officials in the future will need to study the ancient classics. Recommending those who study the ancient classics as filial and honest is also a common practice for people in officialdom to take sides.

However, there were several candidates for filial and honest officials who were clearly trying to show goodwill to him, the prince, and his princelings.

Liu Bian's eyes fell on several names circled in red ink on the list, such as Fu Xun of the Beidi Fu family, who was of the same clan as Fu Xie; Guo Yuan of Le'an County, a disciple of Zheng Xuan; and Lu Cui and Ruan Yu of Chenliu, direct disciples of Cai Yong.

After all, these people were well-educated and had great reputation in the local area. We cannot attribute their selection as filial and honest officials solely to their clans or teachers.

But the last one on the list, Jia Cai from Guzang, has an obvious intention of currying favor.

Jia Cai is thirty-nine years old this year, but he is just a county official. His family is not a famous family. He just has a grandfather who was the governor of Yanzhou and a father who was a general of light cavalry.

Of course, both of them died in their prime, so they did not bring much benefit to the family.

But Jia Cai has a younger brother, Jia Xu, who is known to everyone in the world as the prince's most trusted and trusted retainer, the current governor of Henan, and wields the Shangfang sword.

Only Zhu Jun, the governor of Liangzhou, and Cao Cao, the governor of Qingzhou, had the power to wield the imperial sword. After the Yellow Turbans were pacified, this power was taken back from Lu Zhi, Cai Yong, Yuan Pang and Wang Yun, but Jia Xu never had the prince's imperial sword taken back.

Regardless of his identity as the prince's most trusted retainer, the status of the governor of Henan, or the power represented by the Shangfang sword, it was inevitable that Jia Cai would be recommended as a filial and incorrupt official.

However, neither the ancient literature school nor the princelings raised any objections to this.

Liu Bian leaned back in his chair again, shook his head helplessly, and sighed in his heart.

Sure enough, no matter which class you belong to, the reason you complain about privilege is simply because the privilege is not in your hands.

(2735 words)
(End of this chapter)